Camera Crane Basic TagTag Properties
You can drag a Null object or a Spline into this field. The Camera Crane’s base will then be positioned on the Null object or spline position as defined via the Pos setting. Note that when using Splines, their respective Y-axis should be oriented upwards. Otherwise the Camera Crane will not be oriented correctly.
Drag a Spline into this field if you want to use a Spline to control Camera Crane’s up vector (the location along the Spline can also be defined using the Pos setting). More precisely, the Camera Crane’s Y axis will be oriented in the corresponding direction along the Rail Spline (and the Z axis’ orientation is defined by the current spline tangent). If this field remains empty, the Y-axis of the linked Spline will be used.
If a Spline is defined in the Link field, use this setting to define its location on the Spline. Values between 0% and 100% can be entered.
Enable this option if you want the Camera Crane’s base to move tangentially to a Spline. Otherwise the Camera Crane’s orientation will remain constant.
Rotates the Camera Crane around its vertical axis.
Defines the height of the Camera Crane’s base (i.e., the height at which the camera arm is attached).
Defines the Camera Crane’s length.
Use this setting to define the Camera Crane’s upward or downward pan. If the Compensate Pitch option is enabled, the camera’s default horizontal orientation will be maintained.
Instead of controlling the Camera Crane’s rotation via the Heading setting, an object can be dragged into this field to which the camera arm should be oriented. If Pitch is set to 0%, the camera arm will point directly to the object. Otherwise the corresponding vertical deviation will be applied.
The Camera Crane’s Head settings affect the position and rotation of the camera’s center point in relation to the Camera Crane’s end point. This represents the vertical/horizontal distance from the end of the actual Camera Crane to the camera’s center point.
Defines the vertical distance from the end of the Camera Crane’s arm.
Defines the horizontal rotation of the head. If set to 0° (of course Compensate Heading should be enabled by default), the camera will always point in the direction in which the camera arm is pointed.
Defines the horizontal width from the end of the crane’s arm.
If you would rather use an object (e.g., Null object) – to which the camera (and the head) should point – to control the head/camera, drag the corresponding object into this field.
Rotates the camera (reference: camera base) vertically upwards or downwards.
Rotates the camera around the axis of your angle of view.
Offsets the camera in the direction of the axis of the angle of view.
When the Camera Crane’s arm is moved up and down (via banking) the camera should also change its angle of view accordingly. But this is often an unwanted effect. If the Compensate Pitch option is enabled, the camera will maintain its vertical angle of view. If this option is disabled, the camera will be linked to the Camera Crane’s arm’s pitch rotation and will rotate with it accordingly.
If you also have Compensate Heading enabled in addition to the aforementioned option, the camera’s angle of view will always remain constant and will not be influenced at all by modifications in the Camera Crane’s length or rotation.